


Do-nut Fall in Love

by SuperStitious18



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Light Angst, Multi, Pre-OT3, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22659415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperStitious18/pseuds/SuperStitious18
Summary: "I saw an angel today at work." Nate sighed happily as he collapsed on the bed next to his roommate, Charlie. They tried shoving him off their bed but he refused to budge, instead choosing to continue daydreaming about this "angel" he saw."Well. Are you gonna share?" Charlie asked impatiently.
Relationships: Charlie/Nate Heywood/Zari Tomaz
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Do-nut Fall in Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovevalley45](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovevalley45/gifts).



> Based off something from Tumblr with "send me an au and I'll give you 5+ headcannons about it" 
> 
> Well, I wanted to write it and here we are. A big thank you to my friends for supporting this and thanks to lovevalley45 for being chill about me stealing this!

"I saw an  _ angel  _ today at work." Nate sighed happily as he collapsed on the bed next to his roommate, Charlie. They tried shoving him off their bed but he refused to budge, instead choosing to continue daydreaming about this "angel" he saw.

"Well. Are you gonna  _ share? _ " Charlie asked impatiently. They were curious now as to who got their best friend in such a lovesick state, of course this wasn’t the first time that this had happened but it was the first time it had been this bad since their sister Amaya left. “Come on! I wanna know!”

Nate sighed again, a dreamy smile stretching across his lips as he thought more about this beautiful person that he saw while at work this afternoon. She had beautiful raven hair, gorgeous brown eyes that captivated him as she ordered four donuts and a coffee. He might have “accidentally” slipped her five, just to see what would happen and the little, sweet smile she flashed him as she looked into the bag was more than enough payment for having to cover the extra donut, they made too many everyday anyways so who was gonna care?

“She was  _ perfect. _ Jeans, a flannel, her hair was pulled back so you could see her face. She ordered four of the dirt donuts but I slipped her an extra glazed. She  _ smiled _ at me, C! I could die a happy man.” He kicked at the air a little and put his arms under his head so he could daydream more about the gorgeous woman that he saw come in. “She sat down in one of the corner booths, pulled out these  _ massive  _ headphones and ignored everyone as she stuffed her face full of donuts!”

“Hell yeah, that’s the only way to eat donuts, mate.” Charlie snorted and secretly wished they had come to visit Nate earlier. Not just to hit on him and make his coworkers jealous, but to also see this drop dead gorgeous woman that had him so stupidly infatuated.

“It was great, she left before I could get off and go over to talk to her but I think she’s one of the engineering students? Or one of the business students? I don’t know. I wish she was a history major, I could see her then.” He lamented as Charlie whacked him with a pillow to get him to stop his moping about.

Charlie hummed and tapped at their laptop a little more. “Damn, maybe I’ll start coming up when you’re there then, see if I can score her number.” They joked, shoving at him with their sneaker clad foot. 

“Hey! No! I want to talk to her first!”

“Not if I do it first!” 

“You don’t even know what she looks like!”

“An angel, obviously.” Charlie snicked, clicking around on their screen so they could order pizza for dinner. “Oi, tell me what you want on your pizza. Buy me lunch when you get paid.”

Nate nodded, accepting the deal. “The Italian sausage, obviously.”

“It isn’t even Italian! It’s bastardized!” They argued, feigning disgust as they added his pizza to the cart and worked on their veggie supreme pizza. “Anything else about this angel though?” 

Nate lit up at the chance to talk about the girl that he met, which firmly made up Charlie’s mind that they were going to go to the bakery and try to woo this woman.

\-------------

Zari yawned as she trudged into the local cafe her friend, Nora ran with her boyfriend, Ray who incidentally was a former classmate of Zari’s as well. They had brought her donuts once when she was stressed from midterms last semester and it had helped her retain her sanity then, so they had offered their little bakery as a safe haven for her when she had presentations to do and charts to graph. 

Why did she decide to pursue her master’s degree again? It was a whole bunch of unnecessary stress added on to her plate. That, plus trying to juggle everything just for her parents to see her as someone more than an extra body at the dinner table. 

“Ah! You’re back!” The handsome cashier grinned at her, his dopey grin marginally improving her mood already even if she just got inside from the gloomy outdoors. “Couldn’t stay away?”

She considered her options for a moment. She could entertain his banter and actually put an effort into being a functional human being just to make friends with this man, or she could just painfully get through the conversation like she always does with strangers. He seemed nice enough… Nate (or so his name tag said) seemed nice enough that it lowered her plaid shield just long enough so she could say something to him. 

“Nope! Gotta get my donut fix somehow!” Zari cringed as those words left her mouth. She sounded entirely too peppy, ugh, she sounded too friendly. 

“Wow, are finals getting to you too?” He joked a little bit before he tapped at the screen in front of him. “My friend, Ava, she gets that chipper when it’s test time and she can’t control her emotions.” Now it was Nate’s turn to cringe, apparently he classified that as an overshare and was a little bit embarrassed to have gone on about something so mundane to Zari.

Not like there was anyone else around at the time, she had come in during the quiet hours so she could work on some homework without her roommates having loud sex right in her ears. Still, she was holding him up and preventing him from working so she better order and go take her seat.

Zari smiled at him as she collected her order. Ray had been right about him, he  _ was _ nice, maybe a little awkward with the way he flashed his big, dark eyes her way when he thought she wasn’t looking. Maybe it wasn’t all too professional either but, it was kind of nice for someone to show some interest in her without knowing who she was already for a start. 

She hadn’t sat down too long before she heard a voice ask, “Is this seat taken?” Zari looked up and sucked in a sharp breath at the gorgeous person who stood in front of her. What was it with this bakery that attracted such beautiful people? Was it because the owners themselves were attractive or was it that every good looking person within a five mile radius came here on the days that Zari felt like she was an absolute mess?

“Uh, no, go ahead.” she said as she forgot that there were plenty of other tables in the bakery/cafe that they could have taken. “I’m… Zari.”

“Charlie Jiwe, They/Them, nice to meet you, Zari.” The way they said Zari’s name was almost sinful and Zari was glad she hadn’t been drinking anything because she surely would have choked on it and spat it out from how flustered that simple sound made her. Again, _ beautiful people shouldn’t have rights like that. _

Zari flushed a little and glanced over at Nate, not quite looking for a lifeline but maybe, some form of support in this instance. Instead, he was glaring at the back of Charlie’s head like they had done something to personally offend him. Nate flushed a bright red when he noticed her watching him and rapidly turned back around to clean something behind him as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

“Is ol’ Nate bothering you? I keep telling him he doesn’t have a chance with a beautiful woman such as yourself.” Charlie said in a teasing tone. Zari figured they didn’t really mean it, or she hoped they didn’t at least. “Nah, man’s got game, just doesn’t know how to use it!” They shouted over at him, clearly meaning more than to tease just his flirting skills.

“No, he’s...fine.” Zari responded, shifting in her chair uncomfortably. As much as she’d love to be terribly confused between the hotness of Charlie in front of her and the hotness of the cashier whenever he turned around, she really did have work to do…

Charlie seemed to understand this as their face softened into a cute, kind look that already charmed Zari immensely to see. “I gotcha, I’ll sit here and you do whatever it is you do. Hope you don’t mind me teasing my pal a bit, do ya?”

“No, I don’t, just um, not loudly?”

They just winked at her before turning to the tablet they had brought with them that Zari was just now noticing. Maybe, just maybe, when she’s braver, she’ll ask what they’re working on, if anything at all even.

Where she a little bit braver, she would but not today.

\---------------------------

Nate was currently wiping down the counter at  _ DarhkTech _ when the door opened and in came his favorite customer. It wasn’t exactly because of the reasons you’d expect, unless you knew him personally. 

Except, Zari looked a little angrier than usual. His normal routine would be to try and joke around to cheer her up but he figured this wasn't the time to try that. She looked stressed enough as it is without having to worry about him trying to be friendly. 

"Hey Zari." Instead, he went with being gentle and as non stress inducing so she wouldn't have a breakdown over whichever project she had to do now. "I know your coffee order, how about I surprise you with the pastries today? Go take a break?"

She looked a little surprised at his offer but after a moment of consideration, she nodded. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing, It's on me today. Go, I'll bring it over in a minute." He meant it too. He really liked her. Even if it may have not been long since they met, she was more sociable somedays and chatted with him as he cleaned around the store front. Plus, he wanted to do something nice for her, being an engineer grad student and trying to get her master's in business? 

Well, no wonder she always was stress eating. Nate would happily supply her the donuts she wanted in this case, he  _ really  _ didn't mind. (And don't tell Charlie, but he figured out that Zari's eyes have this little twinkle in them whenever he's around so he was definitely whipped by this little firecracker of a woman. He had no problem with it at all.)

Meanwhile, Zari sunk into her normal booth in the corner with a heavy sigh. Nate really was a nice guy, he was just genuinely happy and wanted to help her out. God, she wished this stress wasn't from her family coming to visit her, she really wished it was from something else unrelated to them. She loved them, she did! They were just a lot, her parents meant well but they were usually more interested in what Behrad was doing and he seemed to still resent her for moving all the way across the country to get away from it all.

"Here you go!" Nate's chipper tone almost startled her out of her seat. "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized over and over again, his hands hovering near her just in case she needed anything without making her feel too overwhelmed.

"No, no, it's okay. It's just been a long day." She yawned and stretched upwards to try and work out a few of the kinks in her body.

"Well, I can get Ray to cover the register for a bit, I wouldn't mind listening?" 

Now  _ that  _ surprised Zari. "Wair, you don't have to! It's just, it's stupid."

"If you don't want me to, you can say no but like I said, I'm a pretty good listener." His earnest gaze helped put her mind at ease, even just a little.

Well, if he insisted… so she just nodded and he sprinted away, disappearing into the back of the bakery, effectively leaving Zari with…  _ a dozen donuts and two coffees.  _ The little shit, he planned this! But as she looked at the variety of donuts that he picked out for them, she found that she didn't really mind all too much.

It didn't take long for her to spill everything about her family's visit and her stress inducing classes. "I hate having some asshole tell me I'm wrong when I  _ know  _ I'm right! Like, do you not think I took the same course? I’m working on my master’s! I know how to tutor for fucking Intro to Economics.” Zari finished bitterly before she stuffed her face with another donut.

“Men, they can’t handle when a woman is better than them. I’m really sorry. Honestly, I’d say just let him fail then if he doesn’t want to listen.” Nate was appropriately enraged with her, giving Zari the vindication she was seeking. “For what it’s worth, I’m positive you’re the best possible tutor.”

She smiled softly at him. He was sweet and it was nice to grieve about men to someone other than her roommates, they agreed with her but it was great to get an outside opinion as well. “Thanks,” she said and stopped talking, she hoped he was okay with a little bit of silence so that she could actually focus on her newest presentation now that the anger had died down a little.

Unfortunately, Nate did have to finish his shift but he came over to check on her often, refreshing her coffee everytime it started to look like it was even close to being empty. It was nice, to be able to do her work with someone who actually took interest in her courses and what she had to say, someone who asked her questions and listened to her explain them as he wiped down tables and swept the floors. 

“You’re working on your master’s too?” She asked when she decided it was time to stop for the night, but when she wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. Zari wanted to know more about him too.

“I am! History, not just because a lot of it’s fascinating but I like digging for the truth, the stuff they don’t tell us because that’s the history I want to know. Not the winner’s version, that gets boring after years of listening to it.” He finished his little spiel as he made his way back over to her to sit with her now that he officially passed off his apron to Ray so the other man could work the closing shift and Nate could get home for class the next day. 

“That’s pretty cool.”

“Can I walk with you back to your room?” Nate sheepishly asked, leaping at the opportunity to help her gather her stuff when she started actually getting her stuff together so she could go back to her apartment herself. “I understand if you say no, but um, the offer’s there.” 

“Stop being so charming, you’ve already bought me donuts and coffee, what are you trying to do? Get a date?” Zari teased him and saw him blush profusely. Oh, so he  _ was _ trying to work up to asking her out but it still didn’t seem like everything was just a ruse to get into her pants. Well then, who was she to refuse his company? She found that she actually enjoyed it and he didn’t stress her out like her classes and family did so she absolutely didn’t mind. “I’d like that, but you’re carrying my backpack.”

The walk back was pleasant, they talked mostly about their classes and a little about cats when Zari saw a cute kitten watching them stroll past it’s window perch. “They’re so cute! I had a dream I was a cat once, it was weird.”

“I dreamt I was a puppet! With Ray and Sara, now  _ that’s _ weird!” Nate laughed, the deep sound rumbling through Zari and filling her ears with it’s wonderful noise.

But hang on. “Wait, do you know Ray as more than just your boss?”

“Yeah! He’s been my best friend since we were kids, we tried dating for a bit but we broke it off after a couple months. He’s my best bro and I’ll be his best man when he gets married to Nora.”

“And Sara… Lance?”

“Also one of my best friends, she’s furiously bisexual and full of spite.” He snorted and smiled fondly at the thought of his friend.

“She’s dating my roommate, Ava. She’s the reason I keep getting sexiled and end up having to study at the bakery!” Zari couldn’t help it, she had to laugh at the irony of it all. Of course people within their circles knew each other, of course her best friend Nora was dating Nate’s best friend. Of course, he knew Sara who knew her roommate, just… of course this is what would happen.

They reached her apartment and Zari hesitated to go in. Nate was smiling down at her as he handed over her backpack, her hand lingered on his and for a moment, she marvelled at how small her hand seemed next to his and enjoyed the difference more than she honestly should. It was still nicer than it had any right to be, to be close to someone like this and have them look at her like she was something to be marveled at. 

Unfortunately, Zari chickened out on kissing him but she did leave a soft kiss on his cheek and disappeared inside the apartment after she told him, “Thank you, I’ll see you later, Nate.”

She didn’t even see his dopey grin or the way he walked away, holding his hand over his cheek where she kissed him.

\--------------------

“I’m telling you! There’s nothin’ better than dancing off all that sugar!” Charlie swore to Zari as they dragged her into a relatively small venue. “And this ain’t like most regular clubs, sweetheart, nah, they’ve got  _ good _ booze for us drinkers and good virgin stuff for people like you.”

“Religious?”

“Cute.” Charlie winked at Zari, which caused her to blush and follow them inside the little club. It was different, it wasn’t bass blasting in your face and a dance floor filled with lustful teenagers and twenty somethings. No, it had a more intimate feel to it and was filled with queer couples enjoying themselves to the fullest, whether that be grinding on the dance floor or quietly snuggling in a dark booth in the corner away from the ruckus, yet they were still able to enjoy this safe space that had been catered for them.

It was nice.

Charlie came back from the bar with an unopened bottle of water for her and some sort of sweet looking drink for themself. “I got a coke, no rum. I didn’t wanna leave you out.”

Well, that was oddly sweet but why did they come here if Charlie wasn’t going to drink? Good god, did Charlie expect her to actually dance? Zari couldn’t dance, at the very least, not improvised dancing, years of ballet said otherwise but she couldn’t club dance, she didn’t know how! “Did we come here just to… dance?” She asked a little nervously, fiddling with her water bottle and subconsciously shrinking a little more away from the dance floor and closer to Charlie. 

Luckily for her, Charlie seemed to pick up on her nerves. "We don't have to, but I'd like to." They said gently and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Zari felt some of her nerves disappear at the touch and she sank into Charlie just a little bit more.

"Maybe." She took a sip of her water, pleased to find it was the lemon flavoured kind she liked. She was also a little impressed that Charlie remembered she'd liked it from one conversation off handedly over a week ago while they were at DarhkTech, waiting for Nate to finish his shift. 

They stood there, enjoying each other's heat and presence at the table for a while until Zari actually found herself wanting to go out on the dance floor. "Hey, I think I wanna try dancing now?" Zari suggested and Charlie grinned, their smile lighting up their face and the surrounding area.

When did she become so sappy? She'll blame it on Nate and Charlie for being such beautiful people that she couldn't help but succumb to their stupidly charming ways.

Charlie dragged her to the dance floor, immediately making space for the both of them to move and groove to the song that was playing. 

Their dancing  _ entranced  _ Zari. It wasn't perfect, but that didn't feel like the point of it. They bounced around, singing off key and bopped to the beat as they went on with their fun. Charlie saw she was standing stock still in the middle of the moving crowd, they grabbed her hands and the exuberant smile on their face got Zari to loosen up and join them.

It was so much fun, to just let go of everything and be free with them. She could wave her arms however she wanted and no one would care as long as she didn't smack anybody. Zari didn't have to be perfect, not here, not tonight and not with Charlie. She could be silly, she could do horrible body rolls and be laughed at because she's funny, not because it's sad. 

It was  _ refreshing _ . Nate was like a steady rock, someone who supported her and kept her steady while Charlie was like air, fresh and ever moving and whisking Zari away on new adventures. 

God, she liked them both  _ so much _ . 

"That's the spirit!" Charlie yelled over the sound of Porcelain Black and offered their hands out to Zari. She took them without hesitation and let herself dance with Charlie.

Then it changed as a slow song came on, the dj proclaiming it was time to slow down and take a minute to admire your date. Not like that'd be hard, Charlie was  _ handsome _ and they had this soft smile and this string accent when they whispered that just drew Zari in further. 

Charlie glanced down at Zari's lips, a soft question on their face as they got just a  _ little  _ closer. Zari nodded as she held her breath, hoping to be able to meet those lips that looked oh so soft. She closed her eyes and sunk into them, ready and-

Her phone rang, loudly and obnoxiously. She briefly considered ignoring it and letting it go to voicemail, but sadly, that ringtone meant that it was her maman and she  _ definitely _ couldn’t ignore that or the next one would be filled with angry Farsi and Zari did not want to face that again. Once or twice was more than enough to make her learn from her mistakes. 

“I-I’m sorry, I have to, it’s my mom.” Zari flushed, embarrassed because she had been just about to kiss one of the cutest nonbinary people she’d ever met and her mom had to call right this second. 

“It’s okay, I’ll go get us more drinks.” Charlie had an understanding smile as Zari ran out the door to get away from the club music, angrily cursing her luck.

She came back inside not too much later, pale and a lot afraid of what was going to happen. Charlie immediately came over to her, their hands hovering near her shoulders as they worried over her without trying to pressure her into speaking. “What’s wrong?”

“They came in early, my family. I don’t know- I, my place isn’t clean and Sara and Ava are still there, I don’t have any food there! I can’t host them yet, they’re gonna-” 

“Whoa, whoa, breath darlin’.” Charlie stopped her from going into a full panic attack and gently placed their hand on her chest right over her heart. “Breath, okay. They just got here, you look good enough to go get them, take them to eat and I’ll rally Nate and the gang, we’ll clean up and yell at the ladies. Okay?”

Zari knew immediately that Charlie was heaven sent and that they had to be an angel themself. There was no other explanation for them otherwise so yeah, angel it was. She kissed them on the cheek with a quick, “Thank you!” before she dashed out the door to go pick up her family from the airport. In her haste, she missed the way Charlie fist pumped the air out of excitement because they got a kiss on the cheek from her.

\------------------------

“Nate.” Charlie kicked Nate awake, uncaring that as they did so, they pushed themself further out of the bed they shared with him. “Mate, come on wake up.”

“Mmm, I’m up, I’m up.” He grumbled, blearily opening his eyes to see what was going on before pulling Charlie closer to his front and firmly trapping them against his chest. “Mmmmmm, warm.”

“Man! Get up! I’m havin’ a crisis here!” They sounded genuinely distressed which quickly got Nate’s attention, fully waking him up so he could check to see what was wrong with his bed buddy. 

The room seemed fine, everything seemed in order so whatever crisis they were having had to be personal. “What’s-” Nate yawned, interrupting his sentence, “-wrong?” 

“I think I like Z.”

“So? I do too?”

“Not just as a friend, you daft moron! This is bad!” They whacked his forearm and groaned at the thought of having a damn crush on someone that her best friend/fuck buddy did too. There was no way that this could work out.    
  
Nate rolled his eyes instead. “I don’t see the issues, Char. I like her too?”

“Well, we can’t both date her!” Charlie spat out angrily. 

“Says who?” That caused them both to fall into a strange silence as they contemplated what to do next. The only way they could both date Zari was to bring it up with her and see what she wanted, they wouldn’t make that decision without her as she was the vital third party needed for this to work. If it would work and god, they both hoped it would work.

\-------------------------------------

Zari steeled herself for this. She just got a confirmation text from Nora that both Nate and Charlie were inside  _ DarhkTech _ , they weren’t busy, just chatting over coffee and that Zari’s plan, Operation Ask Both of Them Out was a go. It was just, this could go horribly wrong but maybe, just maybe she could be lucky just once in romance. 

Especially since the two of them had kept her sanity together with donuts and support through finals and her family visiting, even physically helping her with studying and cleaning up her apartment enough that her parents didn’t have anything negative to say about it. Hell, she even tried to reach a truce with Behrad by asking him more about his travels to which he was surprised but he indulged her, even sharing pictures with her about one of the men that had taken a liking to him while over in Central City. 

_ “His name is Jax, he’s a mechanic and he’s really cool. I scored his number even, said to call him if I came back…” _ Zari was just happy he was starting to come out of his shell since he came out to all of them last year right before she had to leave to go back to college. 

“Hey, Z!”   
  


“Zari!” Charlie and Nate tried to get her attention but she was on a mission and that required her to collect the premade bags of goodies from Nora who was grinning at her while giving her the biggest thumbs up that she could. 

“Good luck!” Ray chirped at her from his spot near the coffee makers.

“Z, how’s it-” Charlie didn’t even get to finish their question before Zari dropped the bags in front of the recipient before she kissed Charlie in front of everyone in the shop. She dropped them quickly, she didn’t take the time to enjoy the look of shock and awe on their face before she turned and dragged Nate up by his jacket to kiss him as well.

Kissing both of them felt so utterly  _ right _ that Zari hoped they felt the same way and that she hadn’t just screwed up her friendships with both of them. 

“I’m sorry, but I had to get that out of my system before I went crazy. I like you, both, both of you and I couldn’t choose, I didn’t want to, so I was hoping that you’d both go on a date with me? At the same time?” Zari nervously asked. God, why did she try to do this in a bakery? Where Nate  _ worked? _

Nate and Charlie exchanged glances, breathless and almost unable to formulate a response to this astounding woman’s bravery, because they had literally just been talking about how to propose the idea of a date to her. They hadn’t taken into account that Zari was brave and beautiful and she could feel the same about them at the same time. 

She started to look entirely too nervous, which was the last thing that they wanted so they both rushed to give her a resounding, “ _ Yes. _ ” and hug her between them tightly. Zari melted in their embrace, a happy grin on her face as she listened to the hoops and hollers of their friends. 

Nora had been right back then, back when she said this place was magical and had a way of making everything work out just right in the end. Zari had come in here, stressed about exams, stressed about her family and her lack of a lovelife and she was walking out with perfect scores, a better relationship with them (it still needed just a little mending but that was fine) and hand in hand in hand with two of the sweetest, snarkiest, and most beautiful people she could have picked.

So, yeah, this place was magical and Zari finally believed it. 

  
(Didn’t mean she was excited to owe Ava money for their little bet they had made way back when Nora said her original statement but well, you  _ donut _ mess with the way the cards turn out.)


End file.
